2 Samuel 21:3-9 – The Cost of Atonement
Saul wasn’t just an ordinary father. He was the king. And his actions as king involve more than himself alone. Just as if our government were to declare war with another country, we would all be at war. And Saul’s sin brings consequences for his house – his dynasty. Now there’s a new ruling dynasty; it’s the house of David in charge rather than the house of Saul. David and his house don’t share the blame for what Saul did, though they’re suffering the consequences of famine like everyone else. But there are still some of Saul’s family around. And the Gibeonites say that it is the house of Saul that bears the guilt. David offers to make atonement himself in verse 3. Perhaps he’s thinking something financial. But the Gibeonites say in verse 4, silver and gold won’t cut it. Rather, blood must be shed. That wasn’t simply some belief that the Gibeonites had. God had given the people a law which said: ‘blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it’. (Numbers 35:33) That hadn’t been done during Saul’s lifetime. Because the king – the one who should have been enforcing the law – was the one who had shed the blood. But the land was still polluted because of the blood that Saul had shed. So the Gibeonites request that they be given seven of Saul’s sons to execute.
Perhaps at this point our natural reaction is to want to look away. We’d rather not think about it. Yet it’s here in God’s word. It’s teaching us what atonement looks like. This is what it takes for God’s wrath to be satisfied. Now in a sense, large parts of the Old Testament are there to teach us what atonement looks like. The shedding of blood of millions upon millions of animals is teaching that without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins.
Atonement must be made for our sin too. We’re born into this world as part of Adam’s dynasty. We share the guilt of his sin. And we add to that guilt each day. And so atonement must be made. But if we have lost a sense of the horror of what that involved, this passage is meant to stop us in our tracks. If the cross has become sanitised for us, if it has become simply a symbol, here we have a reminder of the horror of atonement, of the cost of it. Surely this passage is here to point us forward to another son, being hanged before the LORD on a hill. Even though he was innocent, he hung there in place of the guilty. Surely Gibeah is here to point us forward to Golgotha.
Question
- What is the cost of atonement?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks for Christ’s death on the cross.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.